CHAPTER 5- IMLIE MEETS THE CEO OF BHASKAR TIMES

CHAPTER 5- IMLIE MEETS THE CEO OF BHASKAR TIMES

Imlie couldn't sleep due to all the excitement. Getting to work in the field of journalism was always her dream. She couldn't thank Sita Maiya enough for this. She called her Amma and Dadda and took their blessings too. Whatever she is today is all because of these three forces in her life- Sita Maiya, Amma and Dadda. Her Sita Maiya as she was always kind to her and guided her path, her Amma as she told her the meaning of being strong and never-give-up spirit and her Dadda for fighting against all the odds of the society and teaching her to be a hustler. She will always be indebted to them. She had a heart filled with gratitude thinking she is getting to live her life on her own terms unlike many other girls from her village who were married at a young age and how they had no say in the decisions and direction of their life. Her phone rang when she was lost amidst these thoughts. 

" Hi Imlie, ready?I am waiting downstairs"Arya said

" Yes, I am all ready. Coming in 2 minutes"

They took a cab to their new office Bhaskar times. They both chatted all their way how excited and thankful they were to intern at such a reputed firm. The office was huge and had so much security and checks to pass. Finally they were inside and were greeted by security incharge and were taken to the conference room to meet Rohan-their new manager. There were already 6 more interns in the conference room. The company had selected 8 interns for this summer after carefully reviewing hundreds of applications. 4 from Xavier's, 2 from Amity and 1 each from DN Shah and Mirabai college.

" Hello everyone, I Rohan Agarwal, Chief Editor and Delivery lead, Bhaskar times welcome you all. Each year we strive to get the best profiles and train them to be the professionals of tomorrow. This year the applications were more than previous years so the decision was indeed more difficult. You guys are the chosen ones and trust me when I say this- This will become one of the best decisions in your life. Bhaskar Times is not only a reputed company but also cares deeply about its community and its philanthropy work. You will get an amazing opportunity to grow as an individual here. and you are hearing this from a guy who joined as an intern himself 18 years ago. I will go over this deck which will tell you more about our company and the expectations we have from young and talented individuals like yourself. I am being told that our CEO and MD will be joining us for a brief interaction too. Our CEO and MD conduct open interaction sessions with the interns periodically. So let's go over the deck while they join us" Rohan started going over the presentation.

And after 20 mins, they heard a small knock on the door. Rohan went outside and after 30 sec came inside with a group of 5 more people. 

Imlie saw Aryan, she couldn't believe her eyes but got very excited that her friend also works here. 

"Really? Aryan also works here? Wow. But what he may be doing? Must be something..like a Manager? Nice, very grounded he is, didn't boast at all. I hope I get assigned to his team and we can go for our assignments together, probably he can also learn about some bollywood movies from me" Imlie was excited thinking of how much fun Aryan, Arya and she may have doing their assignments together.

" And he needs no introduction- Meet our CEO Mr. Aryan Singh Rathore"

Imlie was stunned, she couldn't believe what she heard. Really???? Forget his down-to-earth nature and all of that but he is too young to be a CEO. Aren't CEOs supposed to be 25-30 years experienced professionals? He is himself not even 30. What is Rohan even saying?

" Hello everyone, I am Aryan Singh Rathore and  I welcome you all to Bhaskar times. Every year we select the best students as our interns and I am sure this year is no different. While I am not involved in the selection and daily activities of interns, I want to assure you that you'll always be able to reach me by email. And he is Mr. Anand Raheja, MD of Bhaskar times. Our teams will stay in touch with Rohan and you'll periodically for your projects. Once again, welcome aboard" and then he saw Imlie. He was shocked. He had absolutely no clue that all this while the internship Imlie was referring to was in Bhaskar Times. He didn't personally get into the process of selecting interns so had no clue about it.

" Welcome guys and wishing you all the best. We will let Rohan continue with his deck" Anand said, looking at Aryan and they exited the conference room.

" Aryan, are we meeting Mr. Desai at lunch?" Anand was Aryan's maternal cousin, he was 2 years older than Aryan. In office, they were through professionals but otherwise they were very good friends.

" Aryan, you listening?"

" Yes, sorry, what did you say? Oh yes, we are meeting Mr. Desai today at lunch" 

"Ok, see you then" Anand walked towards his cabin and Aryan towards his. Aryan was not believing this co-incidence, Imlie either. Is the world really that small as they it is?

The presentation with Rohan ended and they were directed towards their assigned seats. 

" Did you see, wasn't I right? , that CEO Aryan Singh Rathore is so hot and irresistible. Well his name itself is so boastful- ARYAN SINGH RATHORE as if he was born to be a boss." Arya was so excited like a teenager seeing her crush.

" Shut up Arya. Let's get to work" Imlie was now connecting all the dots how Khushi said he had to squeeze time from his schedule to be at the wedding and her meeting him outside the conference where he would have been the guest speaker Arya described.

Both quickly got busy in their schedules before they thought any further. Only around 5 pm Aryan got free and thought to talk to Imlie. He thought to ping her but wasn't sure if he should ping her on teams, phone or not at all. He wanted to say a quick Hi to her.

He thought to take a walk on the floor  that Rohan and the interns are sitting and say a quick hello to her if possible. 

" Good evening Sir, you here? Can I help you?" Rohan said as he saw Aryan. Rohan had a cabin on the same floor but was sitting on a desk next to Interns so that he is more approachable for the initial days until the interns get more comfortable. BT didn't take Interns lightly and did all efforts to make them comfortable like any full time employee. No doubt, it was rated as one of the best places to work for the last 7 years.

Imlie turned around and both Aryan and Imlie saw each other as she was sitting on the diagonally opposite desk. 

" Actually I thought of discussing with you the findings you sent me from the last survey report" Aryan couldn't find any other quick excuse.

" Sure, shall we move to the conference room sir. I have them ready"

"Yes, let's go" The findings were confidential and couldn't be discussed publicly. Both looked at each other but couldn't say a hello.

After their meeting, Rohan came out and told the interns that they can leave for the day if they wanted. He also reminded them that the company has their townhall tomorrow to present their Q1 results and all of them need to dress formally for the event. It will be followed by a company sponsored lunch where the employees get a chance to interact with the senior officials of the company. 

At night when both got sometime to gather their thoughts, both of them weren't sure how they can keep their personal and professional life separate. They wanted to be friends like before but knew how complicated it may be knowing it's a boss-employee relationship too between them now. 

Aryan was little irritated thinking of how he couldn't say hello to her when she was in front of him and probably she may have found it rude.

Imlie was thinking if they can be friends anymore knowing Aryan was not an employee but CEO of the organization she is interning at. He had a huge reputation to maintain, he is a big public personality. 

Both were lost and don't know yet how to move forward.

NEXT: IMLIE MEETS ARYAN AT THE TOWNHALL LUNCH